2013 Transplant Nursing Excellence Award The International Transplant Nurses Society recognizes that the role of the transplant nurse is unique and dealing with patients through the transplant continuum is often complex and challenging. ITNS wishes to recognize a special nurse whose career has exemplified the mission of ITNS:
"...promotion of excellence in transplant clinical nursing through the provision of educational and professional growth opportunities, interdisciplinary networking, collaborative activities and transplant nursing research."

The 2014 call for abstracts will be open 21 September, 2013 through 15 January, 2014.

Looking to share your expertise?MultiBriefs In an effort to enhance the overall content of the ITNS Insider, we'd like to include peer-written articles in future editions. As a member of ITNS, your knowledge of the industry lends itself to unprecedented expertise. And we're hoping you'll share this expertise with your peers through well-written commentary. Because of the digital format, there's no word or graphical limit and our group of talented editors can help with final edits. If you're interested in participating, please contact Ronnie Richard to discuss logistics.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

China: Red Cross trades organ transplants for cashGlobal TimesLocal branches of the Red Cross Society of China have reportedly been soliciting money from hospitals for providing information on organ donations outside the official system, the Beijing News reported.
An official from the Shenzhen branch of the RCSC in Guangdong Province denied that it directly benefits from the cash, as it is used for medical fees for the donor. However, the report alleged that the local branches have not revealed any information about where the money goes subsequently.

Ramadan drive to encourage organ donationGulf TimesConsidering that pledging to donate organs is highly encouraged in Islam, the decision by Hamad Medical Corporation's Organ Donation Centre to launch a drive to encourage Qatar residents to help someone who has an organ failure could not have come at a better time.
True to the spirit of giving during the fasting month of Ramadan, the campaign is expected to assist the country to achieve its aim of reaching self-sufficiency in organ donation, especially since there is a long waiting list on the kidney and liver transplant list.

The UK needs new organ donation law, and fastThe GuardianWales recently became the first nation in the U.K. to give the go-ahead to an opt-out system for organ donation, in which consent is presumed unless you actively say no. But while Wales should be praised for its courage, its actions have instead been deemed controversial by campaign group Patient Concern, with reservations also expressed by members of the Muslim Council of Wales and the South Wales Jewish Representative Council, amongst other religious organizations.

Vietnam opens center for coordinating organ transplantsRadio Australia Vietnam's first national center dedicated to coordinating human organ transplants has opened in Hanoi.
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien says the center at Viet Duc General Hospital is an important milestone for the Vietnamese healthcare service.

Dead woman wakes up during organ donationABC News via KFSN-TV It was exactly midnight when Caroline Burns eerily opened her eyes and looked at the operating lights above her, shocking doctors who believed she was dead and were about to remove her organs and donate them to patients on the transplant waiting list.

Neuroscientist: Human head transplants are possibleUSA TodayScientists have been carrying out head transplants on animals since the 1970s, when a monkey's head was moved to another monkey's body; the resulting creature survived, paralyzed, for a few days. But so far, no one has attempted to put a human head on a different human body. That's because, in part, they haven't had a way to properly connect the donor body's spinal cord up to the head, so the head-body hybrid would be similarly paralyzed below the transplant area. But a new paper by an Italian neuroscientist says the technology now exists "for such linkage," Quartz reports.

Mesenchymal stem cells in organ transplantationBy Maria Frisch
In October of 2012, the Mesenchymal Stem Cells Solid Organ Transplantation Consortium met to review the current state of clinical data. In June, they released a position paper that reviewed the safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells as a therapeutic agent in solid organ transplantation. This article has been adapted from that position paper to present the clinically applicable highlights and to summarize what you need to know for your practice.

The way stats decide who gets organ transplants is flawedGizmodo (Opinion)
So your doctor has determined that you need an organ transplant. Now there's some important criteria that will help determine how fast you'll actually receive that transplant. But is the way the data is crunched actually serving patients as well as it can? Not exactly.

Could scientists engineer hearts for organ transplants?MashableIn the medical world, there is a discrepancy: In the U.S., approximately 3,000 people are on the waiting list for a heart transplant on a given day, but only about 2,000 donor hearts are available each year, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. That's why scientists across the country are trying to harvest newly-dead organs to bring them back to life.

How many nurses? ACA intensifies hospital debateWomen's eNews
The Affordable Care Act, which is expected to boost hospital admissions, has intensified a decades-old battle over the number of nurses who should be available to patients at all times. Championed by National Nurses United, a 185,000-member national nurses union based in Silver Spring, Md., bills vehemently opposed by hospital administrators are working their way through seven state legislatures — Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Texas — the District of Columbia city council and the U.S. Senate.